Evasive Motorsports has been prepping on a Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle (EV) for the 2021 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) on June 27th, and it is getting help from a surprising source—ENEOS, the largest oil company in Japan. In fact, ENEOS says it has developed a number of EV-related products to meet the requirements of many OEM partners in Japan and other Asian nations.
Although ENEOS ambassador Dai Yoshihara and Evasive have plenty of PPIHC experience, including a 2020 Unlimited Class win a Toyota 86, the Model 3 is the team’s first foray into EVs. The intention is to create performance products for the electrified road applications, and so they are demonstrating their capabilities at one of the world’s most grueling motorsports events.
The racecar made its debut at Turn 14 Distribution’s Pit and Paddock launch event at Evasive’s new facility, located in Cerritos, CA. The focus of the build was to lighten the car as much as possible, while refining suspension and aero.
Much of the car’s body panels have been replaced with carbon fiber including all doors, trunk, and roof. The carbon race splitter, diffuser, and wheel aero disc were custom designed by Evasive under the EVS Tuning brand. Artisan Spirits provided the widebody aero kit and the dry carbon GT Wing came from Voltex Japan.
Custom motorsport coil-overs were provided by KW Suspension via its Competition 3 suspension. The forged TP-5 wheels by Titan 7 (with custom EVS Tuning aero disc covers) for the widebody kit. Wrapping those wheels are Toyo racing slicks, Brembo custom brakes inside. Inside is more custom EVS fabrication, such as the FIA-spec roll cage and carbon dash, plus Sparco safety equipment.
After the debut, ENEOS ambassador Yoshihara got some seat time at Willow Springs Raceway (WSR) before the car left for the PPIHC. The 450-hp (336-kW) Evasive Tesla racer can accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.1 s and is capable of reaching a top speed of 162 mph (260 km/h)—so, spot on with the production car.
A big challenge of the 12.42-mi, 156-turn “Race to the Clouds” climb is adequate cooling for race cars, so front and rear cooling systems designed with CSR Radiators keep the batteries cool to maintain power.
“Overall, testing went really well,” said Yoshihara “We need to make improvements to the cooling system before it leaves for Colorado. Because it’s electric, there’s no sound or shifting, so the rhythm is different from our 2020 Toyota 86 Unlimited Class winner.”
“It’s important for us to analyze the data to see how the Tesla’s battery temperatures were holding up,” added Mike Chang, Evasive Motorsports Co-owner. “We’ve also been able to dial-in the handling and electronic issues further, but we will make more adjustments in Colorado.”
Helping to keep things cool are a nitrous oxide sprayer and ENEOS gear oil for the mechanical differential fitted by EVS.
The ENEOS involvement with the Evasive team is just the latest example of an oil company attempting to pivot as vehicle electrification accelerates around the world. In June, ENEOS Corp. President Ota Katsuyuki announced it would establish the EV Business Development Department in July to further study and expand its EV and plug-in hybrid vehicle business.
The ENEOS Group set out a business strategy of expanding next-generation energy supply and community services in its Long-Term Vision to 2040. It aims to build an ENEOS Platform to provide mobility- and lifestyle-related services at its service stations while supplying petroleum products and a range of other required types of energy such as electricity, gas, and hydrogen.
As part of this strategy, it has been studying new businesses, including the expansion of an EV charging network using those service stations in anticipation of EV growth. The new department will take the lead in studying the development of related services, such as basic charging (at home, etc.) through ENEOS Denki power supply, and route charging business that uses its network of 13,000 service stations in Japan. The department will also study the leasing, sharing, and maintenance of EVs.
Futurride recently covered an example of the Group’s greater electrification initiatives, with ENEOS Holdings, Inc. recently announcing a deal with Ample, Inc. the San Francisco-based electric vehicle (EV) battery-swapping company, to bring EV battery-swapping stations to the Asian region.
